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TALLAHASSEE — An assistant state attorney says prosecutors did not receive information about an 11-month-old sexual assault allegation involving Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston until Tuesday.

Tallahassee police investigated the Heisman Trophy contender in connection with a sexual assault that was reported nearly a year ago in an off-campus apartment. FSU records show the first report was made to campus police on Dec. 7 by a student at a dormitory. The investigation was handed over to Tallahassee police.

The case was not given to prosecutors until this week.

Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman says normal procedure for criminal cases in Leon County calls for police to give information to prosecutors if there is evidence for an arrest, or if it is a “close call.” She says police do not tell prosecutors when they have decided against pursuing an arrest. A day after news of the case broke, jolting college football fans and casting uncertainty on second-ranked FSU’s perfect season, there were mostly questions left unanswered.

Tallahassee police, citing the ongoing investigation, aren’t saying much about the case as well, including why investigators waited until this week to hand over information about the case to local prosecutors.

The Seminoles went back to work Thursday, preparing for a home game against Syracuse on Saturday.

Coach Jimbo Fisher said Winston took every scheduled practice snap and performed as usual Wednesday and Thursday. He also said nothing has changed Winston’s status as a team leader.

“He’s been great,” Fisher said. “He went out and practiced well, played well and eliminated clutter, from what I can understand as far as distractions.”

Fisher declined comment when asked directly about the investigation and would not divulge when he found out about the alleged incident. He did confirm that he spoke to the team about recent distractions.

Winston is only talking football. He spoke to the media for roughly five minutes on Wednesday night. University officials warned they would cut off the news conference if anyone asked questions that weren’t strictly related to football.

Timothy Jansen, the attorney representing Winston, has said his client did nothing wrong and he thought the investigation was over months ago. He said he has already handed over to prosecutors affidavits from two eyewitnesses.

“When I spoke to the detective in February he told me the case was closed,” Jansen said. “I relayed that to my client and to university officials. I hadn’t heard another word until Monday.”

Tallahassee police on Wednesday released a heavily redacted two-page incident report that does not mention Winston by name, but says the incident took place between 1:30 and 2 a.m. Dec. 7.

It describes the suspect in the sexual assault case as being between 5-foot-9 and 5-11. Winston is listed by Florida State at 6-4.

Jansen said he did not know why police waited until this week to hand over their investigation to prosecutors. He speculated that media requests for the records may have played a role. The Tampa Bay Times reported Thursday it had asked for records last week.

My own feeling for this is everything is in order. The investigation was completed, and, as the lawyer said, the case was stacked.

Undoubtedly, the success of the Seminoles struck a raw nerve and residual hearsay in the Gator-infested media decided to attack by proxy.

The campus police really do not become involved in off-campus stuff. I'll bet they do have some kind of record of the call stating that the incident was referred (appropriately) to the Tallahassee Police Department.

The investigation seems to have been carried out professionally by the Tallahassee Police. I suggest they did everything right. Evidence, interviews, etc. About 90% sure the complainant was feeling complicity about the whole ordeal, sorted feelings out, and just wanted to move on with her life.

The media wants us to believe they have something up their sleeve. Probably nothing more than hearsay, but don't rule out that they have breeched efforts to maintain privacy, identified the victim and are attempting to coax the reluctant complainant along with essentially a bribe.

When the media tried to pry their way into police records, the Tallahassee Police did the right thing and informed the higher ups of everything, and the state or district attorney office is providing over-sight and verification.

Just because the police were called to a private place this still doesn't give the media the right to invade privacy. Given the length of time transpired, it's a good guess that the matter was already resolved.

The only "timing" the general public is keen on is why this is coming out in the Gator-infested media, when it's obvious they've been holding this as an ace in the hole for some time.

Do we really want to believe that knowledge of a police investigation involving potential criminal behavior by a FSU athlete just fell out of the clear, blue sky and bopped them on the head?